Fund-raiser to aid hero with medical bills from fire injuries

Published: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 05:11 PM.

A fund-raiser is planned Friday at Hooter’s of Burlington to help pay the medical bills of a man many people are calling a hero.

Steve Cosner almost perished in early March while trying to save two children from a Gibsonville house fire.

“He put his life on the line,” said Carl Allen, a member of Guilford Fire District 28 and one of the organizers of Friday’s event.

“He did everything he could to save those kids.”

Cosner, a resident of Danville, Va., was traveling with Brenten Shaw, a co-worker with Triangle Paving, on N.C. 61 north of Gibsonville early on the morning of March 9 when they saw a house on fire. They stopped and rushed to help.

Despite their efforts, two children died. Jade Hawks, 1, and Matthew Ridge-Powls, 4, were declared dead at the scene.

Guilford Fire District 28 was one of the responding fire departments, and Allen said few people realize how close Cosner came to dying in the blaze. He went into the house through a window to try and save the children.

A fund-raiser is planned Friday at Hooter’s of Burlington to help pay the medical bills of a man many people are calling a hero.

Steve Cosner almost perished in early March while trying to save two children from a Gibsonville house fire.

“He put his life on the line,” said Carl Allen, a member of Guilford Fire District 28 and one of the organizers of Friday’s event.

“He did everything he could to save those kids.”

Cosner, a resident of Danville, Va., was traveling with Brenten Shaw, a co-worker with Triangle Paving, on N.C. 61 north of Gibsonville early on the morning of March 9 when they saw a house on fire. They stopped and rushed to help.

Despite their efforts, two children died. Jade Hawks, 1, and Matthew Ridge-Powls, 4, were declared dead at the scene.

Guilford Fire District 28 was one of the responding fire departments, and Allen said few people realize how close Cosner came to dying in the blaze. He went into the house through a window to try and save the children.

Allen said Cosner was overcome by smoke and flames, and survived only because Shaw pulled him out the window by his feet. Allen noted media reports have listed Cosner’s burns as second degree, though he said they’re far more serious — requiring skin grafts.

Allen said Cosner’s medical bills are high. Though he’s now at home, he spent a week in the Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Allen described Cosner’s family situation as: “He’s got four kids and a new wife.”

Allen said managers at Hooter’s on Garden Road were all for it when he mentioned a fund raiser at the popular restaurant.

“We started talking,” he said, “and somebody said, ‘We need to do something for Steve.’ ”

The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday. Allen said numerous area business have donated prizes that will be given away through raffles that night. Those prizes, he said, include a recliner from Boone’s Furniture & Gifts, a flat-screen television donated by Best Buy plus gift cards from Office Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Wheels & Bumpers and numerous other businesses.

Chairs and jackets with Budweiser logos are included among the prizes as are materials bearing Harley-Davidson insignias.

“I mean nice prizes,” Allen said. “It just goes on and on and on. We’ve got a little bit of everything.”

He said there will also be a 50/50 raffle at the restaurant where half the money collected goes to the winner and the other half to the Cosner family.

For those who can’t make it to the restaurant on Friday, donations to help Cosner are accepted at any branch of Fidelity Bank or by mailing them to: The Good Samaritan Fund, Fidelity Bank, 237 E. Main St., Gibsonville, NC 27249.

Allen said firefighters responded to the March 9 fire quickly, and had the flames extinguished within 10 minutes of their arrival. The house in which the children died wasn’t equipped with smoke detectors and Allen said this is a classic example of why no residence should be without them.